Periscope on the Peach!

What is Periscope?
     * Periscope is way to share and broadcast live videos from any where in the world.
     * It is LIKE snapchat  .... but videos!
     * It is linked with Twitter - search the app store for periscope and download!
         *If you do not have a Twitter account - you can sign up for periscope using your phone number
           (see here)

For the classroom -
You can create a separate periscope account and give out your user name to your parents. They can follow you and once you broadcast - chose to broadcast only to followers. **I have not done this** There may be some kinks to work out - practice before going live and don't show faces just to be sure!

Full Disclosure -
I learned about this app while I was in Vegas at the tpt conference. My reaction - another thing to keep track of.... BUT .... In the middle of one of my insomniac moments the other night I downloaded the app and started watching some videos. Now I am kind of addicted. (just a little)

Why I love it -
I have ALWAYS wished that I could visit other classrooms, see how teachers organize things, how they teach content.... this app allows me a glimpse into other classrooms and allows me to see live video of bloggers I have followed for years! I watched Missy Squirrels crochet today, watched Kindergarten Smorgasbord organize centers, and learned about grant writing tips from Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade. (Talk about some personalized professional development!)

Here are a few graphics to guide you through the app.... There are still some things that I haven't figured out (who gets what colored hearts? I want blue hearts... all. the. time.) I'm not sure if there is a time limit to the broadcast.... And there is a little delay if you are switching from the front camera to the back camera...... AND you have to have some pretty strong internet reception. (trying to periscope inside walmart was a bust....) :)

 I put an x on the globe just because I don't use it at all. If you want to see what is out there - click away friends! 

Thanks for joining me! I hope this has helped! See you on periscope! :) 

FIVE Fun and Free Resources

Could someone please stop time? July is going by way too fast! With back to school on the brain, I thought Keep It Fresh Friday would be the perfect time to share a few teacher favorites with you!

I'm Lyssa from My Mommy Reads and I teach first grade in Marietta. Check out these free resources! Hopefully one or two will be new to you!

Smilebox for teachers allows you to upload pictures and create slideshows, scrapbooks, newspapers, invites, and more. It is super easy and my parents and students love them! Bonus~you can add your own music or choose from their fun selection of jams! Click here to see a few in action! 

I could never have too many Pioneer Valley Press books in my classroom. Bella and Rosie are one our favorite character duos! The nice folks at PVP offer a really cool feature on their site that allows you to build books with your own student's names. You then print them out and have a personalized book in less than a minute! (I staple and make a duct tape binding, too!) These have been a big hit with both struggling readers and your every day, run of the mill, self loving, first grader! :)

My son and my first graders love ABCya Story Maker. You draw and design with many options including paintbrush, pencil, marker, etc (much like KidPix or Pixie) and then type your words. You can save the file or print it. We've made class books, used this during free time and as a choice during writing. 

I do workshop in my classroom for reading and one of our choices is listen to reading. Just Books Read Aloud is the perfect site for this! Students choose a book or if they are feeling frisky they can select "surprise me." From there, a screen appears with the book and it is read aloud to them. Click. Listen. Repeat. 

Ah, Plickers! I'm not sure if I would call it a gaming site, but maybe. I do know it could be used in any grade level! The teacher enters questions and choices and displays one for the class. Students hold up the special card turned to their answer. The teacher scans their cards with an iphone or ipad from a distance-not walking up to each student. The results appear on the screen. You have the choice to assign a student to a certain card so you can track responses OR you can use it simply for engagement and not assign cards. I can't wait to use this to spice up lessons this year! 

Do you have a favorite to add? Please do so in the comments! Let's continue to learn from each other! 

Back to School: Read Alouds

Hey Friends! It's Theresa here from True Life I'm a Teacher! Here in my part of Georgia teachers go back to school on July 27th, and my sweet seconds will be coming on August 3rd! Ready or not?!?!

The first week of school is a time of routines, procedures, expectations, relationship and community building, and sometimes feels like herding about 300 wet cats. One of my favorite things to incorporate are LOTS of read alouds that lend themselves to having conversations about rules and expectations, and how we should treat one another.

Perhaps my favorite thing about these books is that it's almost as if the characters in the books become part of our class. We think back to what Alexander did when he was having a terrible day, or how Albert kept trying, and thinking, and reading to learn and discover new things. We refer back to the characters throughout the year when students in our class face problems and challenges in real life.

Below you'll find my 26 (because 25 would be silly, right?) favorite back to school read alouds! Since I've included a bunch of books, I'm not actually writing about any of them...just giving you some ideas for books I personally LOVE!

Each picture links to Amazon just to make it easy - you can read reviews, a summary, and order should you choose! You can find the entire list HERE!

You made it to the end! I sure do hope you found a new book you'd like to read this year (and maybe not even at the beginning of the year)!

One of the books I mentioned above is "On a Beam of Light" which tells the story of Albert Einstein. I actually just discovered this book a few weeks ago, and pretty much fell in love...with a book. Surely, I'm not the only one this happens to?

Anyway, throughout the book there are several words that just "spoke to me" - made me want to yell, "YES!" The words serve as motivational reminders for students, teachers...anyone really, and I knew I had to have them represented in my classroom! Below you'll find a printable of the words. You can grab it here, or by clicking on the picture below! Enjoy :)

Want to save the list for later? Just pin the image below!

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Workshop Wednesday--All Aboard for a Few Reading Tips!

Hope you had a great 4th of July this past weekend!!! 

It's Shannon here from Bryant's Brain Train, and we celebrated in some of my favorite ways...grilling with family, sparklers out on the deck, and firework-watching with our Savannah cousins! I feel so blessed to live here in the USA, and the 4th is a fantastic way to celebrate the blessings and freedoms that we enjoy!!!

I learned when working on my Reading Endorsement that the average 6th grader reads less than 3 minutes a day. This was staggering to me! Now, as a teacher, I try to take every opportunity to encourage my students to read more and to love reading!  It's time for another installment of Workshop Wednesday, so I wanted to share a few of my favorite reading tips with you...

In my various classrooms over the years I have had a number of reading areas. Whether on couches, in chairs, or with pillows, I encourage my students to "settle in with a good book" and make the most of their daily reading opportunities. 

Look who I caught reading in my chapter book library...this area is known as the "Chugga Chugga Chapter Book" area of the room. You can see that I have my book tubs organized by genres on this bookshelf.

Snapped another sweet pic of a student reading here in one of my classroom "Book Nooks"-small areas scattered around the room where students can stop and read when an opportunity arises. This book is located beside our "Clipboard Caboose."  (I have a train theme in my classroom which will explain some of the area names you see here.)

I love to snuggle up with a good book myself, and I love giving students the opportunity to do the same.  This little one has grabbed a pillow from my pillow bucket for his reading time. This is a snapshot of where we keep our pillows in the "Pullman Car Pillows" section of our classroom.

One of my favorite additions to our DEAR time ("Drop Everything and Read") each day are our "Reading with a Purpose" bookmarks. These bookmarks with reading prompts, comprehension questions, sentence starters, etc. provide quick and easy ways for me to monitor student comprehension or understanding of our mini-lesson concepts. I keep these bookmarks in a labeled can in the front of my room as shown here. I simply copy a set for the week, cut them apart, and place them inside. 

Connecting reading to writing is such an important strategy for students who are both learning to read and reading to learn!

Either during reading or at the conclusion of reading time, each student is asked to complete the question on the bookmark for the week. For example, this student is writing about how the setting of the book he is reading reminds him of the setting of another book. This followed our mini-lesson on the elements of story, with setting being one of these elements.

He wrote, "The setting of this story reminds me of the setting of Hatchet. This book is about trees in a forest. Hatchet is about a boy who crashes in a plane and lands in the woods."

Making reading more enjoyable and making reading more meaningful are just some of the techniques I use to help my students grow in their love for reading. I would love to hear about some of the strategies you use in your own classroom. Feel free to share in the comments section below. 

Interested in finding out more about the Reading with a Purpose bookmarks I mentioned here? Pop on over to my Bryant's Brain Train blog to read even more about these classroom resources.

All the Best,